


a sorta fairytale

by DarkVictory



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: First Date, Fluff, M/M, Surprise Date, canon-divergent, daryl is prickly, jesus is sneaky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 20:11:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9511271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkVictory/pseuds/DarkVictory
Summary: Jesus tricks Daryl into going on a date.  It goes about as well as you'd expect.  Takes place after episode 6.13 (The Same Boat) but before 6.14.(minor edits made for clarity on Apr 4/17)





	

**Author's Note:**

> My first TWD fic, and my first fic in more than 13 years! Trying to get back into it.

“Daryl.”

“Mmph.”

“ _Daryl._ ”

“Shut it, Merle, gimme five more minutes.”

“Sure.  But I’m not Merle.”

It took a good ten seconds for the words to penetrate Daryl’s sleep-addled brain.  But once they did, he was out of bed with the gun from under his pillow cocked and pointed at his intruder.  Then he rolled his eyes and muttered, “Jesus fuckin’ Christ.”

“Just ‘Jesus’ is fine.”

“The fuck are you doin’ here?  I coulda killed you.  _Paul_.”

“Still could.”  He gestured to the gun still pointed at him.

“I’ll put it away once you tell me why the fuck you broke into my house.”

“It’s a lovely house, by the way.  I didn’t know you’d moved.  Went through every room in Rick’s house before I woke up Carl to ask where you were.”

Daryl heaved a sigh.  He’d only moved out a few days before.  Rick, Michonne, Carl, and Judith were a real family now and he figured they didn’t need weird Uncle Daryl living in the basement.  “Why.  Are.  You.  Here.”  He punctuated each word with a shake of his gun.

“I have intel.  Another Savior outpost.  I think.  It’s a little community centre in a small town.  I’ve seen people going in and out of it.  A lot of people, heavily armed.”

Daryl didn’t even notice he’d lowered his gun.  He felt like he’d just gotten one of Merle’s sucker punches to the gut.  “And you’re sure they’re Saviors?”

“No, how could I be?  They don’t wear matching t-shirts that say ‘Property of Negan’.  But they looked scary and armed, so my mind immediately thought ‘Savior’.”

“But we got rid of them.  All of them.”

“I told you guys from the beginning we didn’t know if that satellite station was their only base.  And when that group took Carol and Maggie to another location, I got _really_ worried there were more.  So I’ve been exploring new areas, and yesterday I found this place.”

“I wanna see this place.”

“And that’s why I’m here.  I didn’t think it’d be a good idea to check out the place alone.  If something happened to me, any information I’d gotten would die with me.”

“Not gonna happen,” Daryl said firmly, tossing the gun on the bed and heading to his closet.  He realized he was shirtless just as he was about to turn his back to Paul, and stopped in his tracks.  “Uh…could you wait downstairs?”

“Actually, I’ll come back just before sundown.  If they are Saviors, I think we’d be better off under cover of darkness.”

Daryl nodded.  “’Kay.  I’ll be waiting for you at the gate.  Sundown.”

\---

Daryl stood by the gate, watching the sun set with Sasha, who was on guard duty.  He was itching to set out; he couldn’t stop thinking about the Saviors all day.  Rick had been surprised at the news but Michonne looked like she had been expecting it.  They had agreed to tell no one else until Daryl had confirmed the people were, in fact, Saviors.  He had told Sasha he was going scavenging with Jesus.  He was also angry at himself for not noticing someone breaking into his house, into his _bedroom_.  Civilized living was making him soft.

“Look at you, all ready and waiting!”

He startled as Paul suddenly appeared outside the gate.  Definitely too soft.  “Quit doin’ that.”

“You should be glad I’m so stealthy; it’s a valuable quality these days.”

Daryl suppressed a sigh and opened the gate.  “Come on.  You gotta tell Rick where this place is before we leave.”

“Got it covered.”  Jesus held up a folded map.  “Sasha, could you give this to Rick?  I also drew a little map in there with more detail for him.”  He grinned at Daryl.  “Ready?”

The older man didn’t like Paul’s suddenly chipper attitude.  The kid was a good scout and a great fighter but he wasn’t taking this very seriously.  Even if it was just a façade or a way to deal with the brutal new world, Daryl didn’t like it. 

But he followed him out of Alexandria anyway.

\---

“Perfect vantage point!  Didn’t I tell you?”  Paul smiled widely and gestured to the window, beyond which could be seen the one-story building he had seen people using.

Daryl knew no one would be able to see them in the darkened house so he stepped forward and peered out the kitchen window.  There was a very dim light in one of the target building’s windows but it was otherwise dark.  He couldn’t see any guards patrolling the perimeter but that didn’t mean there was no one out there.  Plenty of hiding places and deep shadows around the building meant there could be stationary guards posted in hopes of catching any attackers unawares.  He nodded decisively.  “A’right, I’ll watch from here, you watch from a room upstairs, maybe you can see more from up there.”

“You can’t, I’ve already checked,” Paul tossed off blithely.  “And this isn’t a comfortable spot to watch from, with the counter and sink between you and the window.”

“Keepin’ watch ain’t about comfort,” growled Daryl.

“Sure it is.  The longer you watch, the more _un_ comfortable you get, the more likely you are to miss something.”  Daryl conceded the point with an eye-roll and a grunt.  “Sooo, I think we should keep watch together, from the dining room next door.”  Paul steered him into the next room where there were two chairs and a small table pushed up against the large picture window which had its curtains half drawn.

Daryl stopped just inside the doorway.  “Did…did you set this all up?”

“Yup!  I already went through the whole house and figured out this was the best spot for surveillance.”  He pulled out one of the chairs and gestured to it.  “Have a seat.”

Daryl slowly approached and sat down, keeping a wary eye on him.  Something was off.  This kid was way too giddy for the situation.

Paul sat in the other chair excitedly, removing his gloves, hat and coat.  “Not bad, right?  Cozy.”  He pulled two beers out of his backpack and handed one to Daryl.  “How about a little treat?”

“I’m sure as hell not gonna say no.”  He twisted off the cap and took a long swig.  As he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, he noticed Paul staring.  “What?”

“Nothing.”  He smiled.  “So, were you born and raised in Atlanta?”

“Yeah…” Daryl answered, suspicion evident in his voice.

“I’ve never been.  I always wanted to go to Savannah, it’s supposed to be beautiful.  Did you ever go there?”

Daryl shook his head before pointedly turning his body to face the window rather than Jesus.

“I’m from D.C.”  Paul paused, seemingly waiting for a response.  Daryl ignored him.  “I was working a pretty dull, middle-management, government job when everything went to shit.  But at least working for incompetent cowards prepared me for dealing with Gregory.”  Daryl couldn’t help chuckling at that and Jesus grinned at him.  “Turns out majoring in English lit doesn’t lend itself to a lucrative career.  Did you go to college?”

Daryl snorted at that and searched Jesus’ face for signs of sarcasm but found only genuine curiosity.  The kid actually thought he was smart enough to go to college.  He felt his cheeks heat with embarrassment.  “O’course not, do I look like someone who went to college?”

“Do I?” Paul asked guilelessly.

“Yeah, actually, you look like you were born at college, ya bearded hippie.”  Jesus barked out a laugh.  “Keep it down.  And stop bugging me, I’m trying to watch.”

Paul waved a hand dismissively.  “You can’t do two things at once?  I’m just passing the time.”

“It’ll pass whether we talk or not.”

“Why don’t you like talking?”  Daryl ignored the question.  “Okay, don’t answer, just keep scowling and brooding instead.”

“You makin’ fun of me?”

“No, not at all.  The quiet loner thing works for you.  The whole sexy bad boy thing is great—“

“What?”

“—but there’s a heart of gold buried underneath and it comes out through deep conversation.  That’s how these things usually work.”

“What things?”  Daryl’s eyes narrowed.

“Things in general,” Jesus said quickly.  “So what did you do before this lovely apocalypse?”

“What’s going on?” Daryl demanded, turning to face him.

“We’re keeping watch and passing the time.”

“ _What’s_ going on?” Daryl gripped the table and leaned forward.

“Wait, I thought I saw something outside…”  Jesus busied himself looking out the window.

“There is nothing outside!” Daryl yelled.  He quickly stood, knocking his chair over.  “Is there?”  Paul remained quiet, his eyes downcast.  Daryl threw his beer against the opposite wall.  “Is there?!”

“No,” Paul admitted quietly.

“Then what the hell did you do this for?!  …What, suddenly you got nothing to say?”  He started angrily pacing around the room.  “Why’d you bring me here and ask me stupid questions?”  A horrible realization hit him like a bucket of icy water.  “Is this a joke?  Did you bring me here just to make fun of me?!”

“No, definitely not!”  Jesus sprang out of his chair.

“Bullshit!  This is exactly the kind of thing you’d pull!  Oh yeah, Daryl looks like someone who went to college, hilarious!”  He grabbed his pack and headed for the door.

“Daryl, please, let me explain!”

“Don’t even think of comin’ around Alexandria again!”  Daryl stormed out of the house, not looking back.  He started the car and peeled out of the driveway, tires spinning and gravel flying, trying to convince himself he wasn’t blinking back tears.

\---

When Daryl returned to Alexandria, he parked the car and started striding angrily to his house.  He saw Rick approaching out of the corner of his eye and swore quietly.

“Hey, how’d it go?” Rick asked with a smile.

Daryl didn’t stop.  “Fine, it was a false alarm, no Saviors.”

Rick chuckled.  “Yeah, I know.  But how’d it go?”

Daryl finally stopped walking.  “You know?  How did you know?”

“Jesus’ map.  It was actually just a note, confessing that there were no Saviors, he just made it up to take you on a surprise date.”  Daryl sucked in a breath and thought his knees might give out.  “To be honest, I didn’t expect you back so soon, unless…”  He looked closely at Daryl.  “Unless you didn’t think it was nearly as charming as Michonne and I did.”

Daryl kept his eyes on the toes of his boots.  “Maybe.  Maybe I just don’t like the guy.”

“Nope, don’t think that’s the problem,” Rick said pointedly.  “I wasn’t sure tricking you was the best way to go, but Michonne pointed out that if he had just asked you out you probably would’ve freaked out at that too.”

“The hell’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re prickly as hell, Daryl!  And it shouldn’t take months and years of shared hardship for you to let somebody in.  If you like someone, let them in.  It’s that simple.  We don’t have time for anything else anymore.”  Rick patted him on the back and headed off toward his own house.

\---

Daryl pushed through the door of his house and stopped short at the sight of Jesus sitting on one of the kitchen island’s stools.

“How the hell did you get here before me?!”

“Hot-wired a car, took a short cut.” 

“Fuckin' ninja,” Daryl muttered.

Jesus jumped down.  “I had to come and say I’m sorry right away.  I shouldn’t have tricked you but I was _not_ trying to make fun of you, Daryl, you have to believe me.”

Daryl looked into Paul’s open, earnest face and sighed.  “I believe you alright?  Rick told me about your note.  But you’re right that you shouldn’t have tricked me.  I don’t like that shit.  I don’t like pranks, I don’t like surprise parties, none of that shit.”

Jesus raised his hands in surrender.  “Got it.  Noted.  Daryl doesn’t like deception, no matter how well-intentioned.”

“That’s right.”

“Can I just say…the only reason I did it is because I thought if I asked you out point blank you would blow up at me and then avoid me for all eternity?”

“You don’t know _what_ I would’ve said, Paul, ‘cause you don’t know _me_.”

“I know!  And I thought a surprise date might be a good way to change that.  Now that I’m saying it out loud, though, it does seem slightly insane.”

“It was.”  Daryl started to move past Jesus, heading for the stairs.  “I’m not mad anymore, just don’t do it again.”

“Wait.”  Paul grabbed his arm, stopping him, but sheepishly let go when Daryl looked pointedly at his hand.  “So, you wanna go on a date with me?”

Daryl scoffed.  “What?”

“I learned my lesson, no more tricks.  But I’m not ready to give up.  So I’m doing what I should’ve done in the first place.  I’m asking you on a date.”  He stepped closer.  “Now, what do you say?”

 _We don’t have time for anything else anymore._   Daryl grabbed Paul by the shirt and pulled him into a brief, crushing kiss.  “Tomorrow.  Six o’clock.  Here.  I’m cooking.  You bring the booze.”

\---  



End file.
